CHICAGO, Ill., April 14, 2007 ¨C The seventh-ranked Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team dropped a three-game contest to No. 11 Loyola-Chicago (23-30, 24-30, 25-30) Saturday night in Chicago, Ill. The Nittany Lions end the regular season with a 20-7 record while the Ramblers improve to 22-6.
Sophomore opposite Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) led Penn State with 13 kills as sophomore middle hitter Max Holt (Cincinnati, Ohio) notched nine and senior outside hitter Aaron Smith (Forest, Va.) tallied eight. Senior outside hitter Alex Gutor (Kiev, Ukraine) did not play for the second consecutive match due to an ankle sprain.
Junior setter Luke Murray (East Petersburg, Pa.) dished out 33 assists and led the team with six digs, as did Smith and Anderson. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Jay Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) notched four kills and four digs as senior libero Ryan Walthall (Irvine, Calif.) tallied three digs.
The Nittany Lions outblocked the Ramblers, 6.0 to 5.0, led by Anderson with three. Holt, Stauffer, Smith and freshman middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) all posted two blocks in the contest.
Loyola-Chicago claimed the battle from behind the service line, racking up 10 aces to Penn State¡¯s four. Holt added two more aces to his single-season school-record mark as Smith and Anderson each provided one.
Ian Anderson led the Ramblers with 12 kills as James Grunst and Nick Lamoureux each provided nine and Joe Guntli notched eight.
Penn State has a bye in the EIVA quarterfinals as one of the top for teams in the EIVA and return home to host the EIVA Semifinals and Championship on Thursday and Saturday, April 26 and 28 at Rec Hall. The semifinal matches are slated for 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, with the Championship match beginning at 7:30 p.m. live on CSTV.
For more information on the Penn State men¡¯s volleyball team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.
